When you can combine two of my loves, one being the sea and the other is watches it makes for a combination I can’t resist. For a long time the water and watches have been something that have gone together like peanut butter and jelly, like Luke to Vader, like….well you get my point. So for Elysee to combine the sea and watches together was not a hard decision. Laying eyes upon the box you can see that something special is waiting right inside. Elysee is a German company that roots stretch back to the 1920’s. The Yacht Timer is proudly marked Made in Germany.

As soon as you first handle the Yacht Timer you can feel how robust the case truly is as if you couldn’t tell just by looking at it. It’s solid and well made. The finishing on the case immediately stands out because of the ionized PVD finishing on the stainless steel which gives it that cool grey color. The grey color adds to the overall look of this watch which I would describe as a refined military style. It can definitely be clasified as a tool watch. There are several details that will support my refined military description and I will touch on each of them throughout this review.

The crown on the YT is surely fit for a king. You will not have any trouble unscrewing or screwing down this crown what so ever. Size has something to do with that and so does the nice machined edges. That beautiful detail of the knurled edged can also be found throughout the YT which is on the small button pushers the operating the chronograph and if you take a glance at the bezel, you can see that same finishing on the edges. I really like the look it gives the watch and I also like how easy it makes rotating the unilateral direction bezel.

There are two things that I also want to mention about the crown that takes this crown from good to great. These details are more of a personal nit-pick of mine that companies often lose points from me for. Elysee has lost no points on the YT because the awesome etched name and logo that decorates the crown so nicely. The other pleasing detail is that when the crown is fully screwed down, the logo lines up perfectly. If you are going to go through the trouble of making a signed crown, for the love make sure it lines up straight when it is screwed down.

I like how the case back is finished to match the rest of the watch. Sometimes a watch case has a different finish than the case back which is usually just polished stainless steel. Elysse made sure everything looked uniform on the YT.

The 45mm case is a size that I honestly believe is a perfect size for this style of watch. This watch was made for adventure on and in the water so a robust case was definitely the right choice. Robust carries throughout the YT including the thick, curved lugs. The lugs angle out slightly which act like crown guards for the button pushers.

Now when you have a nice, robust case, I would surely expect a big, legible dial to follow suit. Elysee has not disappointed my speculation here whatsoever. When I first glanced at this dial, I was blown away by what I saw. Large military stenciled numerals.

One of my all time favorite dive watches features large military stenciled numerals and I couldn’t believe that they weren’t coated with any lume, but Elysee has not disappointed me, the white numerals are coated with lume. The great thing about the YT is that is costs only a fraction of what the dive watch without the lumed numerals does.

Speaking of disappointments when it comes to watches, it hurts me when I see a great looking watch that has hands that clearly don’t belong on the watch. Especially when they are too small. The white sword style hands on the YT are a perfect fit. They make reading the time easy both day and night thanks to the lume. The long chronograph hand does not feature any lume, but it has it’s own unique detailing because it is done in red. This adds a nice touch of color to the dial and it’s also cool because it matches the red indices on the bezel.

You will notice there are two sub dials at the 2 and 10 o’clock markers. One sub dial is a small counting seconds dial and the other is used for counting hours passed when using the chronograph function. Around the inner chapter ring you will see it features some text and some numbers. What is this for and how does it work you ask? Well, it is a countdown of up to 10 minutes to the actual start of time measurement can be set – a function often necessary in water sports. The Yachting Timer gives a beeping signal every minute for your information up to the end of the countdown. Once the countdown is complete, the actual time measurement begins automatically this can last for up to 96 hours. Correction during the countdown and during the period of time measurement is possible with this watch. It’s pretty damn impressive that it can count up to 96 hours.

Yes the YT is a big watch, but it wears great on the wrist and part of that credit can be taken by the soft silicon strap. It conforms to your wrist without any uncomfortable buckling that ofter happens with rubber straps. I am a huge fan of Isofrane dive straps, but they are the easiest straps to slide in and out of the keepers. The silicon strap easily slides in and out of the keepers and the signed tang buckle. The wide pin of the buckle also fits into each hole on the strap easily.

The movement inside of the YT is the ISA 8270 Quartz movement. This movement was on obvious choice for the YT due to its unique functions that are designed for Yacht racing. What makes this movement so cool is that it allows the possibility of recalibrating the count-down at every minute up to departure. So if you wanted to recalibrate at the last minute before you depart, you can. What this cool and precise function allows is you can readjust at any time during the 10 minute count down. Allowing you to get as close to the full minute as possible. When used in racing, this will allow the best possible start and also be synchronized with the timing officials of the race itself. A great start can certainly make or break a race.

There are beeps for each elapsed minute that alerts you during the 10 minute count down. Obviously you are busy preparing at the start of the race, so you can’t keep an eye on your watch every second. Having the beep indicator allows you to know each elapsed minute and allows you to concentrate on starting the race instead of having to look at your watch. Once the race starts and you have departured, the sub dial at the 10 o’clock automatically shifts to the racing timer mode you will know this by the sequencing of the beeps. The hour timer automatic switch is used to measure the time of your race and will continue to count up to 96 hours. That’s a crazy long time.

7 1/2″ wrist shots:

Conclusion:

The YT from Elysee is a nice watch that is a departure from typical watches that are designed for use in and around water. It’s not a typical dive watch in terms of the specific features. The timing feature is geared for Yacht racing, but it certainly can be used for other timing such as timing for a road trip, or time spent in the water during snorkeling or skin diving. The YT is water resistant up to 20 bar which is over 600 ft so it can be used for diving. The triangle on the bezel located at the 12 o’clock position is lumed so it’s definitely a handy feature for diving.

For $438.00 you do get a lot of great features that you typically find on much higher priced watches. The signed screw down crown and screw down pushers are very well designed and very cool to look at. The balanced dial is absolutely beautiful and extremely legible. The bezel operates smooth and butter with very little play and best of all the triangle lines up with the 12 o’clock hour marker and so does the 30 on the bezel with the 6 o’clock hour marker. The large sapphire crystal that has AR coating in almost transparent at times. This dial is also extremely legible when under water. I tested it several times in all different weather and lighting conditions when I was diving with it.

The case ionized PVD finishing is so well done. It’s hard to pick a favorite part of this watch because everything works so well. The case design is flawless. I would love to see this same design in perhaps an automatic non-chrono version, it would be a great addition to the Elysee collection.

I would recommend the YT to someone that is looking for a varient to the typical dive style watch. It’s a good watch for any outdoor adventure on land, and even more so when in the water.

I want to personally thank Elysee for this honor, I thoroughly enjoyed doing this review. I also want to thank you my readers, for all the continued support.

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I fell in love with watches when I was a small child and I would listen to my grandfathers pocket watch ticking. It's been an obsession ever since. Dive watches are my true love. I've been actively involved in the watch universe for over 15 years, trying to contribute what I can, where I can. Spreading my knowledge , but more importantly learning new things from other WIS. Thanks for looking at my blog. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me. Follow the blog via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TimetoBlog-Watches-473321089483105/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/timetoblog_watches/